Door Casing Repair

[Mike OMelia]

Is it possible to repair this? Without taking it all apart? This would be the second time. Arg. Teenagers. Sorry for rotated images.

[John TenEyck]

Yes, of course. Open the crack up enough to shoot glue into it, then clamp it tight. You can fix what's missing with wood putty, sand that flush, and then new paint.

Extra chores, and no whatever teenagers these days really value is in order, too.

John

[Lee Schierer]

So who kicked the door open?

While you are repairing I would remove the door trim and fill in the gap between the casing and the studs with an appropriately sized shim and install a strike plate that is substantially more heavy duty and run the screws all the way through the door casing into the jack stud.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Glue works ok for interior doors.
By the bricks I can see this is an exterior door.
They get too much movement for glue in the seam to hold.
Eventually you'll have to cut the damaged area out so you might as well just go ahead and do it now.

Use one of the multifunction saws, like a Harbor Freight or a Fein or anything in between - to cut out that damaged section and replace it.
Just pry the trim back enough to keep it from getting damaged by the saw.

Cut a new piece to size and use TB III to glue it in place to the jack stud.
Shoot a couple of 18 ga brads to hold it till the glue dries.

If you don't have a nail gun, run a couple of pan head machine screws to hold until the glue dries. Take them out later and patch the holes.

You'll have to redrill the bolt holes, but, it's a very minor fix. I've done more of those for rentals than I care to count.

[Adam Herman]

i had to fix this at my rental house.

i used a 4 foot section of 1/2 in angle iron and mortised it in flush on the interior side of the door, under the trim. about 10 screws into the frame, glue in the crack. once the trim is back on, its hard to see and is much more secure than just the wood. i also shimmed behind the bolts and used 4 in screws for the strike plate and Dead bolt plate into the stud. I dont like the idea of removing the frame, the house settles and that block will want to move somewhere other than where the rest of the frame wants to go.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I dont like the idea of removing the frame, the house settles and that block will want to move somewhere other than where the rest of the frame wants to go

Amen to that! I try to get by with just prying the trim if I can.
For some reason, once trim pieces come down they always seem to shrink and have open seams.

[Mark Wooden]

Get the nomenclature right- that is a broken door jamb- casing is the trim. Don't glue it to the jackstud, remove the casing carefully, glue it like John said and clamp it. Drill and countersink some screws into the edge of the jamb through the crack to reinforce it. Add some shims like Lee said, and get a heavy duty strike plate- the kind with the steel sub plate and #12 screws-, shim it solid and screw it in. Replace the casing, putty, fill , sand and paint.
And make the teenagers help you.

[Cary Falk]

Get the nomenclature right- that is a broken door jamb- casing is the trim. Don't glue it to the jackstud, remove the casing carefully, glue it like John said and clamp it. Drill and countersink some screws into the edge of the jamb through the crack to reinforce it. Add some shims like Lee said, and get a heavy duty strike plate- the kind with the steel sub plate and #12 screws-, shim it solid and screw it in. Replace the casing, putty, fill , sand and paint.
And make the teenagers help you.

This is what I would do also.

[Pat Barry]

Is the door damaged as well? I'd be surprised if it isn't. If my teenager did that he would be paying for a whole new door.

[Harry Hagan]

This is what I would do also.

Ditto. Been there, done that.